


Soul Stone

by hawksilverforever



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-11
Updated: 2018-06-11
Packaged: 2019-05-20 19:28:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,320
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14900579
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hawksilverforever/pseuds/hawksilverforever
Summary: Lil, Lily, Lila. Whatever you call her doesn't mean that you truly know her.





	Soul Stone

**Author's Note:**

> I started this after watching the Infinity Wars trailers and was angry because they didn't tell us where the Soul Stone was and because Loki died. So I made my own story.
> 
> Also this is my Tenth work for AO3!!!!

Lily sits in the kitchen looking at the documents in front of her on the table, she pays no attention to the conversation happening between Happy and Rhodey. On her tablet she types out a few notes from what she has read, it's not until she's being pelted by cereal that she looks over at the two of them. 

"What is it," she asks, slightly annoyed with the cereal stuck in her hair. 

"Friday just said Selvig is looking for you," Happy says. 

She's about to stand up when Eric sits down across from her. 

"I need you to translate this," he says, sliding a tablet across the table. 

Lily takes the tablet and reads the message, writing down the translation of it almost instantaneously. She hands back the tablet and the translation. 

"Shit," Eric says when he read the translation. 

"Where's Tony," she asks, not looking at anyone in particular. 

"He's in the city dealing with an incident," Friday says as the base shakes furiously. 

The group of them rush to the window looking out and seeing a giant blue ship slowly land in the open field behind the base. Lily looks over at Eric, panic in her eyes after reading the markings covering the ship. 

"Nothing good comes from Sakaar," she says as they rush out to the ship. 

They walk outside and towards the ship as the doors open and a ramp materializes down to the ground. Out walks a man made of stone. 

"I don't mean to impose but our second person in charge wants to talk to the person in charge here," he says in the politest way. 

"You're a Kronan," Lily says, "how did you get on a Sakaarian ship?" 

"That's a long story," he says, "name's Korg. So, person in charge?" 

"He is away at the moment," Happy says, "but I'm second in command." 

"Lily should really be the one to talk to them," Eric says, "in case they don't speak English." 

"Well this rock-man speaks English," Happy says. 

"Our second person in charge says that this planet speaks English," Korg replies, "I just need to bring someone to them or they're going to send out this guy that can see everything and he kind of freaks me out." 

"I have a name," this voice from the top of the ramp says. 

"Heimdall," Lily says, looking up, "what are you doing away from Asgard?" 

"Ragnarok," he answers as he walks down the ramp. 

"No," she says, barely above a whisper. 

"There's more," he says. 

"Where is Thor," she asks as she starts up the ramp. 

"Missing," he says. 

"Who's second in command then," she asks. 

"The Prince," he says, not meeting her eye. 

"Heimdall, who is the king," Lily says, walking back down the ramp. 

"Thor," he replies. 

"Thor has no children, so I ask again," she says, closing the space between them, "who is second in command?" 

Heimdall looks up meeting her eyes, without saying anything Lily screams out in anger and rushes up the ramp. She walks into the ship and sees a few familiar faces, they just point in the direction they know she wants. She stops in front of a pair of closed doors and a woman dressed in the uniform of the Valkyrior. 

"Move," Lily commands. 

"These are the Princes quarters and I am sworn to protect the crown," she says, "who are you to give me orders?" 

"Lila of Asgard, first born twin to an Asgardian thus fulfilling the prophecy passed down to us by the first beings in the universe," Lily says, "now move!" 

Valkyrie steps to the side as Lily uses magic to burst open the doors to the room. Lily storms into the room grabbing the collar of the man standing in the room lifting him off the floor. He is taken aback at first by the force he is being handled with until he sees who is holding him in the air. 

"Lila," he says, smiling down at her. 

"How the hell are you alive," she spits. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

Happy looks up the ramp after Lily.  

"We're really just going to let her go into a ship filled with unknown people," he asks. 

"They are Asgardians," Heimdall says, "they are her friends." 

"The rock-man is from Asgard," he asks. 

"Korg," Korg says. 

"Whatever," Happy says. 

"I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself," Lily says as she walks down the ramp. 

"Lily, that was fast," Happy says, pulling her into a hug when she steps onto the ground. 

"Eric, the translation," she says, stepping away from Happy. 

Eric hands over the translation to Lily, she reads it over and over, getting more upset each time she reads it. Happy finally grabs the paper away from her. 

"Lily," he says, "what is going on?" 

"We have to go find Vision," she says, "and bring him back here." 

"You lost Vision," Rhodey yells, "Tony is going to be pissed." 

"I feel like every one of those tights wearing band of weirdos will be pissed when I walk through those doors," Loki says walking down the ramp. 

"You're alive," Eric asks looking between Loki and Lily, "and you didn't think to warn us that he was on the ship?" 

"We have bigger problems," she says, grabbing the translation from Happy's hand, "this is the real problem." 

She is about to explain more when the radio, that she keeps on her at all times, makes a loud static sound. She grabs it off her hip and turns it on so she can hear the other end. 

"Lil, come in, Lil," the voice says. 

"Rocket, what is it," she says into the radio. 

"You see the message that Thanos put out," he asks. 

"Yes, I don't live under a rock," she snaps back, "what about it? He's always been looking for them, it's not a big thing." 

"He has one," Rocket says, "he took down the Nova Core to get it." 

"Shit," she screams, "he's going to Knowhere next." 

"Actually," Loki says, "he came for us, for the Tesseract." 

"That's in Odin's treasure room," she says. 

"Not anymore," he says. 

"Where is it now," Lily and Rocket say. 

"Well, it was either hand it over to him or he was going to murder our people," Loki says, "it's bad enough we lost Thor, which caused the beast to throw a fit and launch himself off the ship right before we landed here, but we fled from Asgard to protect the people from Hela, so I had to hand over the Tesseract." 

"Beast," Happy says, "you lost a beast?!" 

"We lost the Hulk," Loki says, "not like he hasn't been loose on Earth before." 

"Lil, Thor is here with us," Rocket says. 

"Thor is with you," she asks. 

"Kid, we need to figure out a plan," another voice says over the radio. 

"How fast can you get to Terra," she asks, "With Rocket flying, sorry, Pete." 

"Tomorrow," he says, "if I drove it would be a couple of hours." 

"Pete, you know that is not true," Lily says. 

"Are we just going to pass over the fact that Loki gave the Tesseract to this Thanos guy," Happy says. 

"Loki didn't just hand it over to some guy," Lily says, "he handed it over to a mercenary. The same mercenary who he worked with in the Battle of New York, the same mercenary who my father used to work with until he handed over the wrong daughter, the same mercenary who will not stop until he has all the Infinity stones, the same mercenary who will have to kill at least one person to get an Infinity stone." 

"That's why you need to find Vision," Rhodey says, "to keep him alive." 

"Shit," Lily yells. 

"You forgot Vision has an Infinity stone, didn't you," Thor said over the radio. 

"No, I just forgot we lost him," she says, "it's a little hectic here." 

All of the group standing on the grounds jump at the sound of a vehicle driving up the gravel path. Happy turns and walk towards the vehicle as it comes to a stop. 

"Korg, I think it'd be best if you hang out on the ship," Lily says, "the people from here are kind of judgmental and will think you're a bad alien." 

He nods and walks back up the ramp, as Lily cloaks Loki into an Asgardian guard. The door to the black SUV opens and out walks a small man, with gray hair and his face wrinkled from the stress of his work. Lily walks over towards Happy and the smaller man. 

"Happy, what is this," the smaller man asks, "another of Tony's inventions?" 

"Ross, always a pleasure," Happy says, "and you know I can't talk about anything on this base without Tony's permission and he is away taking care of some business." 

"Everett," Lily says, pulling him into a hug, "it's great to see you again.” 

"Lily, I'm not here for a personal visit," he says, "I'm here because of this ship." 

"Okay, well," she says, "this is actually full of my people. They had to escape our home because of the end of days of it." 

"Oh, okay then," he says, "sorry to just show up here then." 

"My brother will be showing up tomorrow as well," she says, "so there will be another ship showing up here. No need to pop out and see what's up with that ship." 

"Okay, thanks for the heads up," Ross says, smiling flirtatously, "Lily, I hope that I won't have to see you on a business visit again." 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

Lily walks out of the base towards the ship from Saakar the next morning, followed closely by Happy and Eric. The door opens and out walks Loki, Valkyrie, and Heimdall. 

"How are you this morning," Loki asks. 

"Pissed," Happy and Lily answer at the same time. 

"What is the matter with you two," Valkyrie asks. 

"Well it's a long story that I don't want to explain," Lily says, "and it has a lot of different branches." 

"I'm just pissed that he's here," Happy says, pointing at Loki. 

"Well he did save an entire race of people," she says, "twice. So, I don't understand why you're so mad at him." 

"He tried to take over and enslave everyone on Earth," Happy says, "so there's that." 

Valkyrie is about to say more as a ship starts to land next to the Saakarian ship. Lily walks over to the ship and opens the door, once it lands, and steps inside. The group still standing on the ground look between each other, Lily steps off the ship and walks toward the group. 

"So just a heads up," Lily says, "Rocket and Groot are a little different." 

"Like the rock-man," Happy says. 

"Kronan, he's a Kronan, named Korg," Eric says. 

"Groot is a Floral Colossus," Lily says, "and Rocket looks like a Racoon, but will murder you if you point that out." 

"Okay, sounds good," Happy says. 

"Gamora and Nebula are children of Thanos," she says, "but have both cut all ties from him." 

"See I'm not the only one who used to work with Thanos," Loki says. 

"And Drax, well, he's odd, and will murder you if you point that out," Lily says, "the only normal, and I use that term loosely, is Peter and that's because he's half Terrian." 

"Terrian," They all ask. 

"Shit, right, um human," she says, "it's hard keeping the different names for here straight." 

"Lila," Thor says walking out of the ship, "where is Banner?" 

"Uhm, Loki," she asks, turning to face him. 

"Thor," Bruce says, walking towards him, after he climbs out of Tony's sports car, "you're here?" 

"How did you get small," Thor asks walking over to him. 

"I fell," he answers, "doesn't matter. Lily, good to see you again." 

"Lily, care to explain who all these people are and why they're ruining the grounds here with their ships," Tony says, walking over to us, "and why Loki is just walking around all free and such." 

"We have bigger problems," Eric says, "Vision left the base two nights ago and hasn't been seen since." 

"So? He always disappears only to show up again," Tony says, "no big thing." 

"This is why we're worried," Eric says handing over the translation from yesterday. 

*blip* *blip* 

Lily pulls out her personal phone from her jacket pocket and looks at the notification. She turns off the screen and puts it back in her pocket. 

"I'd like to explain everything but I have to go into the city," Lily says. 

"Okay, I'll come with you," Happy says. 

"No," she says holding up her hand, "I have to take care of this on my own. It's a personal matter." 

"Nuhg," Tony says, gesturing to the ships and groups standing on the grounds, "you have to take care of all this." 

"I've been following this thing for three years," she says, "I need to take care of this myself." 

Lily walks away before Tony or anyone else can protest any more. She opens the door to Tony's car and gets into the driver seat, pulling away from the base.  

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

She arrives into the city in under an hour and parks near Central Park. Once out of the car she breaks into a quick jog and arrives at a tree near the bridge that crosses over the Pond, making quick work she climbs up into the branches and hides within the foliage waiting for her lead to show up. 

Lily watches the path below her and notices as a blue blur whizzes past. She looks down as it goes past the tree again three seconds later. She jumps down onto the ground, sticking her hand out wrapping it around an arm as it rushes past her. She turns around 180 degrees, still holding onto the silver-haired man's arm, stopping him in is track. 

"How did you," he sputters out, "Oh, it's you." 

"Good to see you again," she says, "I need you to come in with me. I'm looking for someone with a similar energy as you and it would be easier if you weren't running around the city at super speed." 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

"She took my car," Tony says, "she just got in my car and drove off." 

"She tends to do what she wants," Loki says, "you get used to it." 

"Did I talk to you," Tony snips. 

"It must be from her mother," Peter says. 

"No, it's paternal," Gamora says, "you do that too." 

"Doesn't matter if her attitude is maternal or paternal, what matters is we don't know where Vision," Happy says, "where Lily went, or why Loki is still alive, why he's here, not that anyone cares about him." 

"I care for him," Thor says, "he is my only family left alive after all." 

"Fine, one person cares about him," Happy says. 

"Well we can locate Vision using the same algorithm I created for locating the Tesseract before New York," Bruce says, "both are Infinity Stones." 

"That won't work," Lily says, "not with the wonder twins walking about." 

"Wonder twin," Tony and Bruce say, "there's only one." 

"Twins," Lily says, pulling in the silver haired man further into the room, "I have one right here." 

Pietro shyly waves at the group standing in Tony's lab. Lily walks over to one of the computers pulling up Bruce's algorithm. 

"Bruce, could we tweak this to limit it to the energy from the Mind Stone," she says, "since we know his specific energy." 

"We could," he says, "it might pick up Wanda's energy as well. It would be better if we could have her down in the lab as well." 

"You don't know," Lily says, looking between Bruce and Thor, "I was gone for two hours and none of you thought to tell them about the whole Accords thing? Even Pietro knows and he's been living in a cave." 

"You were in a car with him for an hour of course he knows," Tony says, "you probably gave him the condensed version though." 

"Uh, no," Pietro says, "the paper told me." 

"He means the newspaper," Lily says, "as in, he read it in the paper." 

"What are you talking about," Bruce asks. 

"It has been awfully quiet since we got here," Thor says. 

"I'm actually surprised none of the others have tried to kill me," Loki says from the corner he's been hiding in. 

"This," Lily says, motioning to Happy, Tony, Rhodey, Eric, and herself, "is the Avengers. Everyone else is a 'fugitive' because they didn't want to sign the Accords." 

"Was that why the small man from yesterday came by," Loki asks. 

"Who came by yesterday," Tony asks, looking at Happy. 

"Ross did, boss," Happy replies. 

"I took care of it," Lily says, "he's a good friend of mine and I told him that it was because of me that the ship showed up yesterday and that one would be showing up today." 

"You're friends with Ross," Happy asks, judgingly. 

"Yes," she snips back, "after my escort was murdered around the time of the New York incident, I travelled for a bit and then came back to the city where I met Ross." 

"Look," Bruce says, "as neat as this information is, we have a man hunting Infinity Stones and we lost the one person who is alive because of said thing." 

"One of," Loki says, receiving puzzled looks from the Avengers, "you said the one person, he is one of the two people being kept alive by an Infinity Stone." 

"What," Tony asks, "there is another person walking around with an Infinity Stone keeping them alive?" 

"No," Lily says, "you're really going to believe what Loki says?" 

"He's telling the truth though," Thor says, giving Lily a confused look, "you should know what he's talking about Lila." 

"You did have a pretty pissed off reaction when you found out Loki handed over the Tesseract to Thanos," Happy says, "and mentioned your father being an ally until he handed over the wrong daughter. What did you mean by that?" 

"You gave Thanos the Tesseract," Thor yells, spinning around to look at Loki. 

"It was either hand it over or watch our people die," Loki says, "but that's not what we're talking about right now. Right now, we're talking about why Lila won't tell these mortals about the Soul Stone that's keeping her alive!" 

"I could kill you right now," Lily says as calm as she can. 

"What," Happy says, looking over at Lily. 

"Also, why do they keep calling you Lila," Tony asks, "I care more about that right now." 

"Lila is my Asgardian name," Lily says, not meeting Happy's gaze.  

"Okay, my question is answered," Tony says, clapping his hands together, "who wants coffee?" 

"Dude," Peter says, "you should really hear what she's about to say. It's an awesome story." 

"You know," Loki says, looking over at him. 

"Of course he knows," Lily says, "and it's not an awesome story." 

"Well, why don't we go sit down somewhere and you tell us everything," Bruce says, resting his hand lightly on her shoulder. 

"It's a long one," she says, "and it's not just about my life in Asgard, it's pretty much everything from when I was born to what I was working on yesterday morning at breakfast." 

"Go ahead," Ross says from the doorway of the lab, causing everyone to jump at his voice, "I'd particularly like to know everything myself too." 

"Fine," she says, begrudgingly, "it's not like there's some mercenary on the loose looking for Infinity Stones or anything." 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

 _"Okay, so you need to know that my life was planned out before I was even thought about," Lily says, "actually it was before my mother was even thought about."_  

 _"Just get on with it," Tony whines._  

 _"Fine," Lily says, "long before there was Asgard and Earth and all the other realms there were six all-knowing beings..._  

These beings were in control of creating everything. There was one with a different affinity for each power used to create the universe. Five of these beings create a stone to harness their power, these are the five Infinity Stones know to us. The last being saw into the future they were trying to create and knew of the danger that was to come. 

"There will be a titan named Thanos in the worlds we want to make," he says, "he will hunt down these stones and harness their power to destroy all that we have created." 

"Brother, what do you plan to do about it," one of the beings asks. 

"We have plans to create the Asgardian race," he says, "they will be similar to us. Only able to have one child at a time. I prophesy that the first-born twin of a celestial being and an Asgardian will be born with the power of an Infinity Stone, they will carry its power until their dying breath only to release the stone once they have rejoined us." 

 _"That still gives me chills," Thor says._  

 _Lily glares in his direction causing him to shut up fairly quickly._  

 _"So, that's about you then," Happy asks, "not that big a thing then."_  

 _"Just wait," Peter says._  

 _"So, flash forward to_ _Knowhere_ _," Lily says, "thousands of years later..._  

Thanos was looking for people with knowledge on these Infinity stones. He talked to someone who directed him to Ego, a celestial being who travels throughout all the realms. 

"Thanos," Ego says, "I knew you'd come to me sooner or later." 

"You have knowledge on Infinity Stones," Thanos says, "how much would you like for it?" 

"I want you to promise me that you will leave my corner of the galaxy untouched," Ego replies. 

"Of course," he says, "what information do you have?" 

"The first-born twin between an Asgardian and a Celestial Being will be born with an Infinity Stone within them," he says, "once they die the stone will be released." 

"So, what do you need," Thanos asks. 

"I need a threat that will bring the Valkyrior here," Ego answers sinisterly. 

 _"So, he lured our warriors to him so he could breed with one of them," Valkyrie asks._  

 _"Yes, he is this mystical creat_ _ure_ _that just has a way of seducing women," Peter says, the distain present in his voice._  

 _"Anyway," Lily says, pressing on, "he needed them to come to him in_ _Knowhere_ _because he was not allowed in Asgard..._  

"Dria, welcome home," Heimdall says as she leads in the Valkyrior. 

"Thank you," she says, "it was just a small fight between siblings, nothing serious. How are Frigga and our princes doing?" 

"Thor is quite the handful," he says, chuckling, "he will be a great king someday but an even better warrior. Loki is still not sleeping through the night, he will be our little trouble maker. 

"Odin wishes to speak with you," he continues, "it's, well it's, important." 

She nods and continues on towards the throne room. She walks into the room seeing Thor running around and hearing the cry of an unhappy baby. 

"My king," she says, "you wished to speak with me, but I can come back later." 

"No, Frigga take the children and leave," he says, "I have to discuss a problem with Dria." 

Once the doors close behind Frigga and the boys, Odin turns his attention back to Dria. 

"You did not have that a moment ago," he says causing Dria to look down at where he was pointing. 

She looks down at her giant belly. 

"No," she whispers, "I met a man in Knowhere and he told me of all these amazing things." 

"Where was he from," Odin asks, his eyes widening. 

"He had his own planet," she says, "is this what you wanted to discuss?" 

"No," he says, "to both things. He was a Celestial Being, and it's about Hela." 

"The prophecy," she says, "this can't be happening. 

"What about Hela," she asks, quickly changing the subject. 

"She's trying to escape," he says, "I want to send the Valkyrior, I will ask Brunnhilde to lead them." 

"But my king," she protests as her belly grows more. 

"You are about to fulfil a prophecy," he says, "we must protect your first-born, they will have so much power and responsibility on their shoulders." 

 _"Wait so she's older than you," Tony says, looking over at Peter._  

 _"She's half god and half_ _Asgard_ _god," Peter says, "of course she's older."_  

 _"We are not gods," Thor says, "we can di_ _e_ _."_  

 _"Well some of you guys can die," Happy says, "others just fake their own death over and over and over and over."_  

 _"Shut it, please," Lily says, "that same day..._  

The Valkyrior went to fight Hela and most of them perished at her hand. My mother had me and my sister a couple of hours after they were supposed to have returned. We grew up with the love and protection of our people, Odin keeping a close eye on me. I was trained in fighting but things made me turn my back on it. 

"Lila, if you wish to fight like your mother you must wear this extra piece of armor," Odin says, holding out a chest plate. 

"But why, my king," Lila asks, "Sif doesn't have to wear it, nor does Thor or any of the other warriors." 

"Because," Frigga says, "your heart will one day belong to one of our sons, we do not wish for it to be hurt ever." 

"But I want to fight like the others," she says, "I don't want to be treated differently because of a future I don't know if I want." 

"If you want to be a warrior," Odin says, "this extra armor is needed." 

"Fine," she says, "I will not be a warrior then. My queen, I would like to learn magic alongside you." 

 _"I didn't know you were supposed to wear extra_ _armor_ _so that's why you quit training," Thor says._  

 _"It's because of my decision in that moment, that a lot of what happened has happened," she says, "when I started training with_ _Frigga_ _, I also started training with Loki..._  

We became friends and he taught me all the different pranks he played on Thor. The closer we got the more Odin had us seated together at feasts and festivals. My sister grew more and more angry the closer I got to him and the distance I put between us. So, on our birthday, when we became of age she demanded that I went with her to find our father; I agreed but Odin had different ideas. 

"Dria," Loki asks from our entry way, "may I please take Lila away for a moment so I may present her with my gift?" 

Lila jumps up from her perch and pulls Loki back out to the beautiful Asgardian day. She takes a hold of his hand and they walk through the packed streets, enjoying the presence of each other and the silence they can comfortably have together. 

"Lila," he says, stopping the pair in front of the steps to the library they spent most of their childhood together in, "I must confess, this gift is a little selfish." 

"Loki, from you I almost expect it at this point in our lives," she says smiling up at the raven-haired man. 

"Will you," he asks, materializing a simple necklace with an amber coloured snowflake shaped pendant, "promise to spend eternity with me as my wife?" 

"Of course, my love," she says, as he fastens the necklace around her neck for her. 

 _"You're in love with him," Happy asks._  

 _"I was, when I was back in Asgard," Lily replies, "will you please let me finish my story. We haven't even gotten to the worst of it yet._  

 _"It gets worse," Tony chuckles, "you and him were in love."_  

 _"Just let that go," she says, "please. So, after I told my sister about the proposal she left to go find our father without me..._  

He was happy when she showed up. 

"My daughter," Ego says, stretching his arms wide, pulling her into a hug. 

"Father," Enskauja says, "I finally get to meet you." 

"Tell me dear girl," he says, "you have a twin do you not?" 

"Yes," she says, "but I do not want her to spoil this." 

"Oh," he asks, "just answer me this one question then, are you older than her?" 

Enskauja paused for a moment, trying to decide if she should be honest with him or not. Looking over at him she could see the hope in his eyes at her being the eldest. 

"Yes," she answers, "I am older." 

Ego smiles, motioning to something off in the distance. There is a rumble of a ship landing in the field next to them. Enskauja watches as a large, purple man walks towards them. He looks down at her, reaching out his hand for her to take it, smiling. 

"You are going to be a great help to my cause," he says, "my name is Thanos, and together we can make the universe our own." 

 _"He made her believe that she was going to be working alongside him," Lily says, "she had no idea she was going to die because she lied to Ego."_  

 _"Well she was dying either way," Peter says, resulting in getting hit upside the head from Gamora._  

 _"That happened to my sister while all hell broke loose back home in Asgard," Lily says, "see after my sister left I started to gather items for the wedding..._  

There was this one flower only available on Earth. It was hard to convince Odin to allow me to leave Asgard because it was just days away from Thor's coronation. 

"Please, my king," Lila pleads, "let me go to Midgard and get this flower for my wedding to your son, that you arranged." 

"Fine, if you must go," Odin says, "then you must have a guard escort you. You are about to become my daughter." 

"Thank you," she says, "I have to go make my travel plans." 

"You have to leave tonight," he says, "that way you will return before Thor's coronation." 

"Of course, my king," she says, bowing on her way out. 

Lila walks out to the Bifrost with Loki close behind her. They arrive there to see a guard dressed in Midgardian clothing. 

"Lila, must you go tonight," Loki questions, looking over at the guard skeptically, "I do not trust the looks of the guard. He appears to be plotting something wicked." 

"Loki, my love, you have been skeptical of a lot of people," Lila says, "but your father would not have him escort me if he was not trustworthy." 

"Lila," he starts. 

"Is there a problem here," Heimdall asks, stepping between the pair. 

She shakes her head and walks over to the opening with the guard. Turning back, she smiles at Loki as the passage opens and they disappear to Midgard. 

Lila looks around the bustling streets before her, smiling over at her guard. He leads her towards the main street, looking down at the map in his hand. She walks behind him, looking around at all the different sights. They end up at a hotel and walk into the lobby. 

"We have to stay here for the night," he says, "the flower shop opens in the morning, we will go and get the flowers then return home. That will give us enough time to change for Thor's coronation." 

 _"Expect she didn't because the guard was scum_ _and was plotting her demise_ _," Loki snips, "he got her trapped in that other realm."_  

 _"He didn't, you did," she snaps at him, "we couldn't get back..._  

We called to Heimdall with the flowers in our arms but there was no response. 

"Lila, we should go, people are starting to look," the guard says. 

"Heimdall should be answering," she says, looking up. 

"The coronation is today," he says, "he might be busy with that." 

"There is something else going on," she says, "Loki has been off for days. I want to be there for him, it's going to be hard on him today." 

 _"He let in the frost giants," Thor says, "and then I was banished, but_ _Heimdall_ _should have been able to bring you back after that."_  

 _"Stuff kind of happened in New York," Lily says, "we were in Harlem..._  

When we heard about the satellite that crashed in New Mexico and saw images of it we knew it was Mjolnir.  

"Heimdall, open the gate and bring us home," Lila calls out. 

"Heimdall, Lila is the only thing that can help shed a light on everything," the guard calls out, as a car whizzes past their heads. 

Lila looks over at where it came from and sees two giant green beasts fighting. Turning back to the guard, she grabs his hand and they run in the opposite direction of the two beasts. 

 _"Sorry about that," Bruce says, "even if I wasn't the one that threw it, I still feel bad."_  

 _"It's fine," she says, "we got used to living in the city, two nights before the portal opened in New York we went out to hear this band..._  

We were in the club dancing along to the music, having a couple of drinks, oblivious to what is about to happen in a couple of days. 

"I'm going out for some air," he says. 

"I'll pay the tab and meet you outside," Lila says, "I'm kind of hungry." 

He nods and walks outside, Lila walks over to the bar and pays the tab. As she makes her way to the door she hears a commotion outside. She pushes through the door and sees the guard, her only friend in this realm, shot dead by an arrow. Looking down the alleyway she sees a sandy blond-haired man running away from the scene, carrying a bow. Lila stands and chases after him, she sees him pull open a van door and climbs in. 

"Was he alone," a familiar voice asks. 

"Yes," the smaller man says, "but then-" 

"Loki," Lila calls out. 

The smaller man notches an arrow aiming it at her while a sickly looking Loki leans out of the van meeting the broken look in her eyes. 

"Not her Barton," he says, as the smaller man climbs into the van. 

The van pulls away from the curb leaving Lila standing there, alone for the first time ever in this city. 

 _"You killed an_ _Asgardian_ _guard," Thor says, accusingly towards Loki._  

 _"Technically Barton did, I just gave the order," he replies, "I thought he abandoned her, and he had to pay the cost."_  

 _"It doesn't matter," Lily says, "I left the city that night and luckily got away before the fight broke out..._  

I ended up in London to get away from everything and to try and forget the man I thought I saw in New York. I was living there for a year when Thor showed up fighting the Dark Elves, when the fight was over I looked for him and found him with Dr. Foster. 

"Lila," Thor says as she sits across from him and Jane in the small coffee shop, "you're alive." 

"Of course I'm alive," she replies, "I was hoping you could get a message back to your brother for me. I last saw him before the Chitauri rained down on New York." 

"Father hasn't called you back to Asgard yet," he asks, looking between her and Jane. 

"Why would he," she asks, "if you thought I was dead, wouldn't he think that as well?" 

"Shouldn't Heimdall know that she's alive," Jane asks before Thor can answer. 

"If he could see me then yes," Lily replies, "but he can't see me because of the stupid prophecy." 

"You know," Thor asks, "about the prophecy?" 

"Yes, I've done my research. No thanks to your father," she says, "but I now know the truth about me." 

 _"So you didn’t know until you moved to London about the prophecy," Happy asks._  

 _"No, Odin wanted to hide that little thing away_ _from me_ _," Lily says, "but told his own children."_  

 _"So how long were you in London with Thor," Tony asks._  

 _"Not long," she says, "he introduced me to_ _Selvig_ _, and then I left. Moved back to New York..._  

When back in New York I got a job at one of the museums helping translate artifacts. I was attending one of the Gala's we put on when I met Ross. He was showing one of the artifacts that I translated to his date and was acting all smug about how the translation was incorrect. 

"You see here," he says pointing to part of the artifact, "it actually says 'all men, have they stained skin or new skin, be equals to each other.' Which shows that this civilization is more advanced than our own." 

"Actually," Lily says, looking at the area he is pointing to, "that actually says, and I'm paraphrasing here, but it's telling of an allied tribe that consumes its own feces." 

"No," Everett says, as his date chuckles at my translation, "I believe my translation is correct, and you should really mind your own business." 

"Well I wouldn't have butted in if you didn't feel the need to be the smartest man in the room," she replies, "but my job at this museum is to translate all the artifacts brought in, so, I think I know what I'm talking about." 

With that she turns and makes her way through the rest of the gala avoiding him for the rest of the evening. 

"Lily, I want you to meet one more group before you leave," the chairman of the museum says, leading her over to a small group of people, "Everyone, this is Lily, head of artifact translation. Lily, this is a small portion of our federal government benefactors." 

Smiling, she politely shakes each one of their hands and tries to remember their names as they are said until she reaches his familiar face. 

"Everett Ross," he says, shaking her hand, "sorry about earlier this evening. If it makes you feel any better the woman I was trying to impress wasn't buying it even before you jumped in." 

"You met earlier," the chairman questions, "which exhibit did he try and translate?" 

"The Beguile tribe," she replies, not giving any more details than that. 

"I hope you'll tell me more about that on Monday morning," he says, "it's not Gala appropriate." 

"Of course," she says, "but if you'll all excuse me, I must be going. I have another commitment this evening." 

Lily turns and walks away from the group heading towards the elevator. It's not until she's about halfway there that she hears someone following her. She pauses at the elevator waiting for it to arrive when the man that was following her takes a spot next to her. 

"How do you manage to get out of an event put on but your work early," he asks as they step into the elevator. 

"I’m trying to recruit a friend of mine to work for us," she says, "a mutual friend of ours is having a work event this evening that I’m kind of crashing. So I’m technically leaving a fun work event to go do work." 

"Oh, okay then," he says as the doors slide open to the garage. 

"Why," she asks turning to look at him as they walk towards their respective cars. 

"I was going to offer a drink if you could teach me your ways of getting out of mandatory work functions," he says, smiling at me. 

"Well, how about a coffee tomorrow," she says, "that way I can tell you how a party at Avengers tower equals a full day of work." 

 _"You got out of work because you were at the party," Tony asks, "I wish I could miss work because I was at a party."_  

 _"You do Tony,"_ _Rhodey_ _says, "it's call a hangover. Now shut up and let Lily finish her story."_  

 _"Thank you" she says, "so Everett and I stayed in touch after I transferred to this job..._  

"How's Berlin," Lily asks as she putters around her office. 

"Terrible," Everett replies, "everyone here is not doing their job. I mean Shannon stole Captain America's Shield and Falcon's wings and handed them right back to the fugitives." 

"Rett," she says, ebbing caution in her voice, "these are my friends you're talking about. You know the rule." 

"I know," he replies. 

"How are you feeling anyway," he asks, changing the subject. 

"Still achy and my head ache is getting worse," she says, "there is nothing in these medical books that can help me diagnose a cause. The symptoms do lessen when I'm not around Vision." 

"Maybe it's that gem in his head," he says. 

Lily drops the medical book she's looking at once Everett says those few words. She quickly says her goodbyes and hangs up the phone, asking FRIDAY to get Eric for her. 

"Lila, is everything alright," Eric says, "FRIDAY said you were panicked." 

"You know how I've been feeling sick ever since I transferred here," she asks, he nods in reply, "it's because of this," she says tapping her heart, "and Vision." 

"It can't be," he says, putting the pieces together. 

"They can't be in the same place for too long," she says, "there are side effects." 

 _"That's why you were always rude to Vision and avoided him,"_ _Rhodey_ _says._  

 _"It's bad enough we live in the same place," Lily replies, "but to be in the same room for too long would be catastrophic."_  

 _"How catastrophic," Happy asks._  

 _"I fear it's past it," she says, "the emitted energy from one Infinity Stone is a lot, but two, it's like Clint at target practice_ _blindfolded_ _."_  

 _"Shit," the small group of Avengers mutter._  

 _"So that's everything then," Tony asks._  

 _"No, she hasn't even mentioned meeting me yet," Peter replies._  

 _"I met Peter when I went to_ _Knowhere_ _after being summoned back to Asgard," she replies._  

 _"Wait," Thor asks, looking back at Loki, "did you summon her back?"_  

 _"Yes," he answers, "I wanted to see if she was happy."_  

 _"And I was," Lily jumps in, "so I was released of all responsibility I had back home."_  

 _"After I came back from_ _Knowhere_ _," Lily continues, "I noticed that things were different..._  

Vision was locked away and for some reason Bruce's algorithm was open on the tablet sitting on the desk in my office. Walking over I pick up the tablet looking it over. 

"This is tracking all similar energy to the Tesseract," Lily whispers to herself. 

Looking closely, she notices smaller energy sources similar to Vision, two to be exact. 

"FRIDAY, bring up the current screen of my tablet onto the large screen in my office," she says, not taking her eyes off the screen until such is done. 

Lily walks over to the screen looking at the two blips, one of which is moving at an alarmingly fast pace. She jots down the energy-based information and walks back to her desk. 

"FRIDAY, turn off the screen," she says, sitting at her desk. 

Pulling out her tablet she opens the code of Bruce's algorithm, altering it to focus on the smaller amount of energy. She relaunches the algorithm and starts tracking the fast-moving energy. 

 _"So, you knew about him being alive since you got back from your travels," Tony asks._  

 _"I didn't know what it was," Lily replies, "and I wouldn't have known about it at all if the tablet wasn't open to Bruce's algorithm."_  

 _"Who opened it then," Happy asks, "it couldn't have been Bruce he was MIA."_  

 _"It was me," Loki says, "I was able to get into her office at set it up. I was hoping she would start hunting the Infinity Stones and beat_ _Thanos_ _to the punch since she was already in the presences of two."_  

 _"You," Happy asks, looking over at the raven-haired man._  

 _"He is a saviour,"_ _Heimdall_ _and Valkyrie both say at the same time._  

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

Lily walks into the kitchen after locking herself away in her office for the afternoon. She steps in just as a knife is launched across the room in the direction of Ross and gets lodged into the wall behind him. Looking over in the direction it came from she sees that Happy is the one who threw it. 

"Really guys," she says, "what caused this outburst?" 

"Nothing," Ross says, "just a friendly discussion." 

"It wasn't friendly," Happy says. 

"Obviously," she says, "you threw a knife at Ross and it's stuck in the wall." 

She walks over to the knife and grabs the handle, she pulls it but is unable to remove it from the wall. 

"It's stuck in there," she says, "if I can't pull it out it's not likely to come out." 

"You aren't that strong," Happy says. 

"She's an Asgardian," Thor says walking into the kitchen, "she's one of the strongest people I know. Even more so now that she knows how to control the power from the Infinity Stone within her." 

"Speaking of that, what is the whole plan with that," Happy asks. 

"I've been looking into how to remove the Infinity Stone and still live but keep coming up short," she says, "maybe with Bruce here we can try and work it out together but I still fear for the worse." 

"I've read through all your research," Bruce says as he walks into the kitchen, joining the group, "and you've run every possible scenario, even ones I didn't know where possible, and there is nothing else to do." 

"I could have a friend that can help with that," Ross says. 

"Really, Rett," Lily says, the hope evident in her voice. 

"Yeah, of course," he says, smiling at her, "I'll make a couple of calls and then we can go see them." 

"Thank you," she says, pulling him into a hug, "you don't know how helpful this could be. It might even give us a leg up on Thanos!" 

"What if Tony looked into it," Happy says, as Ross leaves the room pulling out his phone in the process, "he's good at making things that keep hearts going." 

"He has," Lily replies, "I went to him as soon as I ran out of ideas." 

"He just found out about the Stone this morning," Happy says, "when did you go talk to him?" 

"What do you think I was doing all afternoon," she says, "I ran out of ideas yesterday morning at breakfast, then Eric came by with the message from Thanos so I forgot about it until I walked into my office after lunch." 

"She can meet us quickly this afternoon," Ross says as he walks back into the office, "they're sending a ride for us." 

"Right now," she asks, "I have to go get all my research." 

Lily rushes out of the room, quickly kissing Ross' cheek, heading in the direction of her office and leaving the four men behind. 

"Happy," Ross says, "how about while I help Lily, you and Bruce look for Vision." 

"Oh like hell I'm letting you be alone with her," Happy says. 

"My friend actually had to be convinced to even allow Lily there," Ross replies. 

"What did you say that convinced her," Happy asks. 

"Are you implying that I told my friend that she has an Infinity Stone," Ross asks, receiving a nod in reply from Happy, "I'm not an idiot. I'm not going to say that over the phone." 

Lily stands in the doorway listening to Everett and Happy fighting, silencing Bruce and Thor as they quietly walk out of the kitchen. 

"Why are you so obsessive over Lily," Ross questions. 

"You're one to talk," he replies, "you're possessive of her." 

"What are you in love with her," Ross yells. 

"So what if I am," Happy replies, "are you worried she could feel the same way?" 

"Why would she feel the same way when she's met me," Ross retorts, "I made a complete ass of myself the first time we met and she's still around. You only met her because your boss hired her." 

"You know eavesdropping is bad," Loki whispers as he joins Lily in the hallway. 

"I know," she whispers back, "but this fight has been brewing for years. I need to know if they can work it out on their own or not." 

"They both fancy your affection," he whispers back, as the two continue to argue in the kitchen. 

"I know," she whispers, "and I know I'll have to do something about it at some point, but it's just a lot." 

"It could be a lot worse," he whispers. 

"Oh, how could it get worse," she whispers back, looking over her shoulder at him. 

"Well, I was disgused as Odin when you came back to Asgard," he whispers, waiting for Lily to realize what he means by this. He sees the realization appear in her eyes. 

"You're fucking with me right," she whispers back, Loki shakes his head no. 

Lily storms away from Loki into the kitchen, stopping the two men in there in their tracks. Loki follows after her, the confusion and hurt evident on his face. 

"I can't believe this," Lily yells, "I honestly can't believe this. Actually, I can because it's you, but I never thought you would do this type of thing to me, your brother yes, but me NEVER!" 

"Lila, please," Loki pleads, "can we talk about this in private." 

"Loki, I don't want to be anywhere near you," she screams, "I can't even look at you. Please just leave!" 

Loki takes a step towards her, trying to show a form of affection. Lily puts her hand up, silently telling him to stay away. He tries again, she pushes her hands towards him resulting in an energy surge blasting him across the room. Lily, after realising what just happened, rushes to his side looking for signs of injuries. 

"Pissing you off results in you using the power from the Infinity Stone," Loki says through staggered breaths, "good to know for any future fights we might have." 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

"Mr. Stark," a small skinny boy yells as he rushes into the building. 

"Kid, no need to shout," Tony says as he walks into the lobby, followed closely by Lily and Ross. 

"Who is this now, Stark," Ross asks, looking over at the teenager. 

"He's an intern for Tony," Lily replies, "I asked if he could join us today, I feel this would be a good learning experience for him. If it's not too much trouble, Rett." 

"Lily, I don't think we can just bring him," Ross says, as they walk out of the building. 

"He is more than welcome to join us," T'Challa says from the open field. 

"I didn't realize you'd be the one picking us up," Ross says. 

"Shuri is prepping the lab," he replies, "and I needed to get away for a bit." 

"It's good to see you again," Tony says, "I hope this Shuri can help this one here, we've all gotten used to her ways." 

"Before anyone else can say anything embarassing about me," Lily says, "we should get going. I have a lot of work that is waiting for me." 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

They walk into Shuri's lab followed closely by Okoye. Lily looks around at the tech Shuri has throughout the lab, smiling at it all. 

"You have this," Lily asks, pointing at one of the gadgets on a table. 

"Yes," Shuri replies, "I've tweaked it some to make it better. You know about it?" 

"Yes, we created it back in Asgard a thousand years ago," Lily replies, "I didn't realize it made its way down here." 

"I built it from this Norse mythology old book," she replies, "it took me awhile because I had to translate the text." 

"Lily could translate anything you need translated," Ross says, receiving a glare in response from Lily. 

"We're not here to discuss this," Lily says, "Rett says you're the smartest person he knows and that you'd be the best person to ask for this kind of help." 

"What can I try and help with," she asks. 

"I have an Infinity Stone keeping me alive," Lily says, "I want your help in creating an energy source that can take its place if it comes to that." 

"Holy cow," Peter says eagerly. 

"No way," she says as eager as Peter, pulling Lily over to one of her many technical devices, "lay down, this will do a full body scan so I see exactly how the Infinity Stone is working with your organs." 

Lily does as she is asked, shooting a concerned look in Ross' direction. 

"If you don't want me to be here I can leave," he says, resting his hand lightly on her shoulder as Shuri boots up the machine. 

"Actually, you should stay," Shuri replies, "T'Challa and Okoye, go make sure that the White Wolf doesn't come by here today. Tell them I'll bring them in tomorrow." 

T'Challa and Okoye walk out of the lab, not saying anything in response. Ross looks behind them confused, but then back to Lily, giving her a reassuring smile. 

"She's the best at what she does," he says as he steps back from the machine, "I wouldn't bring you here if I didn't believe it." 

Lily nods, then turns her head back so she's looking up at the ceiling rather than at Ross with an awestruck Peter standing close by, looking over his shoulder. Shuri turns on the machine and it scans Lily, once it's done she motions for the group to follow her. She pulls up the scan and zoom in on Lily's heart and the Infinity Stone tangled within it. 

"This is amazing," Shuri and Peter both say as they look at the scan. 

"I've never actually seen the Infinity Stone," Lily says as she examines her own heart, "it looks like there is no easy way to remove it." 

"Let me work on this for a couple of hours and then I should know whether or not we can do anything," Shuri says, "Colonizer, why don't you take Lily for a walk down to the market. Peter can stay here and help me work." 

"Colonizer," Lily chuckles at the nickname Shuri uses for Ross, "you know if Tony hears that name he won't call you anything else." 

"Lily, please don't tell Tony that," Ross says, as the pair walk up the ramp, "I'll do anything." 

"Anything," she asks, Ross nods in response, "like be nicer to Happy?" 

"If that's what it takes, yes," he replies. 

"Good, because I need your help," she says, "because Odin wasn't the one that called me back to Asgard, he wasn't the one that released me from my responsibilities." 

"Okay," Ross replies, trying to keep everything straight. 

"Long story short, that means I'm still betrothed to Loki," she says, "Thor is now the King and he's who I have to convince to release me from this." 

"So, you need the two of us to get along so you can," he says, "what exactly?" 

"So, I can figure out how to be rid of Loki once and for all," she replies. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

Lily and Ross walk back into Shuri's lab a couple of hours later to see her smiling and holding something very small.  

"I've not only figure out how to remove the Infinity Stone," she says, "but I've also created and tested a replacement energy source." 

"Shuri, that's amazing," Ross says, looking between the two women. 

"Can you show me how this will all be done," Lily says, "if the time comes." 

"Well, if you let me do it today we can have the Infinity Stone out in a couple of minutes and you back on your feet within the hour," Shuri says, as she shows test results and scenarios. 

"I don't want to remove it today," she says, "I'd like to keep it in there as long as possible, but this can replace the Infinity Stone if Thanos manages to remove it?" 

"Of course," Shuri replies, "and you won't lose anything. You'll still have the same energy surges that can be used in a fight, and you will still be able to read, write, speak, hear, and understand any language you face." 

"Perfect," Lily says, smiling down at the device in Shuri's hand. 

Shuri walks over to one of the many tables and pulls out a small case, she places the device within the case and closes it. 

"Keep this on you at all times," she says, handing the case over to Lily. 

"Ready to go," T'Challa asks from the ramp, the three of them nod in response. 

"Stay safe," Lily and Shuri say to each other as Lily leaves with the group, the pair smiling at one another at their concern for the other's safety. 

"See," Ross says as they board the jet, "she's the best when it comes to this." 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

They land at back at the base, Lily carrying the device in her hands, and walk off the Quinjet. Happy meets them just inside the doors with an exhausted look on his face. 

"Happy, is everything alright," Lily asks as Peter rushes off towards Tony's lab. 

"Another communication from Thanos came in," he says, as they fall into step heading towards Lily's office, "we've spent all afternoon trying to translate it. We got one word." 

"When did it come in," she asks as she places the case on her desk. 

"Ten minutes after you left," he replies. 

"I've been gone for most of the day and you only got one word," she says, exasperated, "who was working on it?" 

"Everyone," he replies, "and before you ask, yes we did ask Friday for help." 

"Fine," she says, reaching her hand out, "hand it over." 

"That's the other thing," he says, "it's gone missing." 

"So, let me get this straight," Lily says, turning to face Happy, "you got the message minutes after I left, didn't reach out to me, spent most of the day trying to translate it, only getting one word, and finally you've lost it so we have no hope in translating it to know what we're in for?" 

Happy only nods in return. 

"I can't believe this," Lily yells, "I leave for like a day and you completely fucked up." 

"I am Groot," Groot says from her doorway. 

"He did what," Lily asks, calming down a fair amount. 

"I am Groot," he replies. 

"Wow, I didn't realize that," she replies. 

"I am Groot," Groot replies, smiling a bit. 

"Oh shut up," Lily says, laughing softly. 

"Should we leave the room," Happy asks. 

"No, sorry. Groot was just filling me in on everything," she says, "how Loki destroyed the message so I won't see it." 

"He's an ass," Ross says. 

"I am Groot," Groot says, shooting him an angry look. 

"Thank you, Groot," Loki says, as he walks into Lily's office. 

"Why don't you go crawl back into the hole you slithered out of," Happy snaps at Loki. 

"Happy," Lily snips. 

"Look I was just coming to discuss a personal matter with Lily," Loki says, ignoring the tension building in the room, "so really if anyone should leave, it should be the lot of you." 

"I'd rather not talk about that now Loki," Lily replies, "I have other matters to attend to." 

"Like this," Loki says, lifting the small case off her desk. 

"Be careful with that," Lily says, snatching it from his hands, "this is the only thing that will keep me alive when Thanos comes to collect this stone. One of the three he's missing thanks to you." 

"Two," Loki says, "he's missing two. The message he sent out was stating that he found Vision and got the Mind Stone, he's only missing the Time Stone and obviously the Soul Stone." 

"Vision is dead," Happy yells in anger. 

A flash of blue appears next to Lily in her office, carefully placing a woman on her feet. Lily looks over to the woman seeing pain in her eyes, the same eyes showing that she was just crying, and recognizes who it is standing in front of her. 

"Wanda," Lily says, pulling her into a hug, "I am so sorry." 

"It's fine," she says, "all that matters now is keeping you safe." 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

Lily wakes up with a start looking around her dark room, rubbing her eyes she reaches for her phone.  

3:00 am. 

Standing, she pulls on a sweater over her tank top and slips on a pair of flipflops and makes her way outside. Once in the cool air of the early morning, Lily starts to relax and walks towards the few trees lining the edge of the property. 

"You're awake early," a voice says from the tree branches about her head. 

"Bad dream," she replies, looking up to try and see who it is talking to her. 

"What could have been so bad as to wake you," the voice questions, staying hidden from her. 

"Nothing," she says, walking away from the tree, starting to feel unnerved. 

"Where are you going dear," the voice asks, following her in the tree branches above. 

Lily ignores it and continues walking away, she hears a soft thud as someone lands on the ground behind her. Slowly she slips off her flipflops as she continues to walk away. The person following her picks up pace so he is only steps behind her. Lily looks over her shoulder, unable to make out the face of who is following her, and breaks out into a run further into the trees. 

She starts running not paying attention to where she's going, her feet getting cut up by the rocks and branches that lie underfoot. She is thrown to the right by a blast of energy, quickly she's back up on her feet running again. She looks over her shoulder quickly and collides with a cold metal suit, knocking her on her ass. 

"Lily, you're bleed," Tony states as his face plate lifts. 

"Well I am running barefoot in the woods," Lily says, standing, looking around her for who's chasing her. 

"Can I give you a lift back to the base," he asks, "get you in something you can actually fight and run in. There is an intruder on the base." 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

Lily sits on the edge of her bed pulling on a pair of boots Tony gave her to go with the suit she's currently wearing. She stands, putting the blades she kept from Asgard into the slots on her thighs. 

"Everything fit," Tony calls through the closed door. 

"Yes," she replies as she opens the door. 

"Good," he says as he walks down the hall, Lily closely following behind him. 

They walk into the common area meeting up with the small group of Avengers standing there.  

"I've asked Korg and Kraglin to move the ships out of here so we have full visibility of the base and surrounding area," Tony says, "whoever is here knows that Lily is here. They're going to be sending more people here to get to her so our goal is-" 

"To fight as a team and keep Lily safe," Steve says, walking into the area followed by Sam, Natasha, T'Challa, Shuri, Okoye, and Bucky. 

Tony, who is clearly taken aback by Steve, walks over to him. His eyes full of hurt, anger, and something unreadable. He stands in front of him looking up into his blue eyes, every angry fibre in him relaxing, finally feeling calm and safe. Steve looks down into his Tony's eyes, his own giving away all the love and admiration he feels towards the smaller man. Tony recognizes the look in Steve's eyes and reaches out a hand, as his suit opens around his hand, and places it on Steve's bearded cheek; sliding it back into his hair, Tony pulls Steve forward and kisses him, passionately.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Colonizer," Shuri yells, "do your job and watch Lily's back."

"I am," he yells back, "there are just too many of them."

"I can take care of myself," Lily yells at the two of them.

Loki lands next to Lily and uses magic to clear their area of the alien creatures. Shuri looks over at him, then back at Ross.

"See," she says, "he knows how to help."

They all break into a jog and head towards the base where the others are fighting. Lily looks around at the scene before her and notices how close they are to beating this wave of aliens. Out of the corner of her eye she sees a ripple in the trees, the next thing she sees in Thanos walking out of the trees. He looks in her direction, smiling when he finally lays his eyes on her. Lifting his hand in the gauntlet he shows off the empty spot, the one empty spot.

"Ross," Lily says, grabbing his arm, "go to my office and grab the device. He's only missing one stone."

Ross nods and runs off into the base, causing Happy to shoot her a concerned look. Lily waves it off and turns back to the man walking out of the woods. The man who is being charged at by Loki, Lily looks towards Thor with panic in her eyes. 

Thanos peels his eyes away from Lily just in time to see Loki feet from him. He flicks his hand and Loki goes flying to the side, crashing into a giant rock that lines the driveway. Lily rushes to his side, pulling his limp body fully onto her lap. She brushes a strand of hair out of his eyes as they flutter open, meeting hers. Blinking away tears she sees Thanos approaching her and Ross running out of the base. Ross looks at the situation unfolding in front of him.

Lily looks down at the man in her arms, the only true piece of home she has left. She lays him carefully on the ground and runs to Ross' side, she grabs the case from him and turns back to see Thanos with his boot raised above the defenceless Loki.

"Stop," Lily booms out stopping everyone in their tracks.

"She finally stands up for herself," Thanos says, a sickening smile growing on his face.

Lily walks towards the pair by the driveway using her power to make Thanos take a few steps away from Loki. Once close to the man on the ground, she kneels next to Loki and pulls him into her lap again.

"I'm sorry my love," Loki says looking up at Lily through staggered breaths.

"Shh," she says, wiping away his tears. His eyes close as he lets out his last breath.

Lily lifts the case that is sitting next to her and smashes it into the rock next to them. She stands, ignoring the screams from Happy and Ross, and faces Thanos.

"I'll give it to you," Lily says, wiping away her own tears, "I have nothing left to live for."

Lily grabs one of the blades on her thigh and stabs it into her heart, falling onto the ground at Thanos' feet. After what feels like an eternity, the Soul Stone rises from the limp body on the ground in front of Thanos. He reaches out and grabs the stone, smiling as he places it into the gauntlet. Ross charges at Thanos, fueled by his rage; still smiling, Thanos lifts his hand and in one swift motion snaps his finger wiping out half the universe.

The dust settles, standing in the open area everyone looks hurt and confused. Happy looks at the spot that Ross was in before Thanos destroyed everything he knew in the world. He looks over at his best friend, the woman he's loved for the past three years, crumpled dead on the ground inches from the man she loved and smiled knowing she was at peace finally in her life.

 


End file.
